State Trooper From Missouri Drowns In Arkansas

State Trooper From Missouri Drowns In Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, AR -- A Missouri State Trooper drowned on Saturday while training for a triathlon.

According to Kelly Cantrell with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, dive crews recovered the body of 43-year-old David Finley. Divers located the man's body just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday evening about 100 feet offshore. Deputies say he was training for Sunday's Ozark Valley Triathlon when he became distressed. According to investigators, other swimmers tried to save him, but were unsuccessful.

"We got a call about 2:25pm of a swimmer, I guess they were training for the triathlon scheduled for tomorrow," says Washington County Lieutenant Emily Augustine.

Now authorities aren't sure what caused the triathlete to go under.

"A drowning can happen to anybody regardless of their experience we don't know what the circumstances were, could be anything that happened. It may not just be that he was careless or wasn't prepared, it may have been a medical issue or anything could have happened that caused him to go under," says Augustine.